About auto-sized prints in Photos for OS X

Learn about ordering auto-sized prints in Photos for OS X.

When you order prints in Photos, you can choose among auto-sized, traditional print sizes, square sizes, and poster sizes. If you choose auto-sized, we resize the paper to fit your photo instead of resizing your image to fit the paper. To fit a traditional print size (like 4 inches x 6 inches), you'd need to crop the picture first.

If you want auto-sized prints, you can choose from three different sizes:

4 inches

5 inches

8 inches

The size you select will be the shortest dimension of your photo:

If you're ordering prints for a portrait photo and choose 4 inches, the width of the photo will be 4 inches, and the height will vary according to the width.

If you're ordering prints for a landscape photo and choose 4 inches, the height of the photo will be 4 inches, and the width will vary according to the height.

Keep these things in mind when ordering auto-sized prints:

The minimum aspect ratio available for your image is 1:1 (square). If you choose a 4-inch height, the smallest auto-sized photo you can order is 4 inches x 4 inches.

The maximum aspect ratio available for your image is 1:4.5. If you choose a 4-inch height, the largest auto-sized photo you can order is 4 inches x 18 inches.

If your image exceeds the maximum length for that size, you can pan your image left and right to adjust the crop.

Sizes increment by 1 mm between the minimum and maximum, making them great for snapshots, panoramas, or custom cropped images.

Minimum and maximum sizes for auto-sized prints

4 in. auto-sized

5 in. auto-sized

8 in. auto-sized

Minimum size

4 x 4 in.

5 x 5 in.

8 x 8 in.

Maximum size

4 x 18 in.

5 x 22.5 in.

8 x 36 in.

Calculate the size of your print

From the Photos or Albums view, select the photo you want to order.

Press Command-I to bring up the Info window:

Note the image dimensions. In the example above, the dimensions are 3,264 x 2,448.

Divide the larger number by the smaller number. In this example, 3,264 divided by 2,448 is 1.33.

Multiply the result by the size of the auto-sized print you want to buy to determine the longer dimension. If you select an 8" print for this image, the shorter dimension will be 8 inches and the longer dimension will be 8 multiplied by 1.33, or 10 2/3 inches.